1st World A/B/O: 16

******************************

The Chef x The Movie Emperor 

Nix's P.O.V.:

Smiling all the way to his eyes Nix thought to himself, 'Wow, I know I said I might be alright with their tactileness but this is a lot of skinship all at once, can I really handle it? It feels kind of nice despite my cheeks hurting a bit now, but I know it was not meant to hurt me. Screw it, I will just embrace it and hope that I can quickly adapt and be fully comfortable around them. After all I will be spending the next 30+ years with this new family of mine because I have no intention of letting anything besides old age to take them from me!' 

"You boys better have washed up because breakfast is served, now take your seats and pay your respects so that we may start this meal so that you will not be late again Beyol Joon do not forget you have practice before classes start this morning!" Mrs. Tae Eun-Kyung said sternly but with eyes that shone with love and dotting.

Beyol Joon quickly let go of Phoenix's cheeks while Beyol Young-Jae stopped petting his head and lowered his hand to rest his shoulder instead. Both still had smiles on their faces, but they did look a bit sheepish, as they promptly answered "yes ma'am" almost in unity. Phoenix could not help but think they were both cute and thus told them so. This led to both of his brothers blushing and getting a bit bashful with him.

'How is it that these 2 men, that are a full head taller than me react that way? Is it a dominant omega thing or did phoenix not compliment his siblings and family this way' Phoenix genuinely asked Solaris through their mind link and got an answer. 'Not sure but it may be a combination of things which makes more sense, don't you think so?' Nix only needed a brief moment to consider it before readily agreeing.

It is easy for one to see that Mrs. Beyol loves her children and husband unconditionally. She was a stern and stubborn woman who typically comes off cold and aloof to those who are not her immediate family; however, she has a pure heart, soft spot for children and she is absolutely, loyal to those who she deems fit.

 Mrs. Tae Eun-Kyung has taught all her children strong moral foundations and that they should never cross their bottom line no matter what or who may try to force them to. "Oh, my sweet sunshine you are wasting away! Come quick, sit. Mother will fill your bowl and make sure to fatten you up! Tsk, why do you diet all the time I will never understand! She just shook her head as she placed the dishes on the table. You are perfect the way you are, even on camera you look amazing.

If those snooty people in the entertainment industry and the starnetizens cannot see it, then it is their loss!" Mrs. Tae Eun-Kyung would never be able to wrap her head around the fact that all these stars and idols were desperate to be skin and bones. When did beauty go from healthy and showing that one is the best option for producing the healthiest offspring to "starvation chic".

Do not get her wrong, there is nothing wrong with being skinny but when it is taken too far, well that was, a completely different thing. Nowadays it is fashionable to be super thin, even to the point where one is skin, and bones. It would be great if everyone could just love themselves as they are instead of all this starvation dieting and plastic surgery.

Plastic surgery should be done because the person truly wants to and not because society or anyone or anything else forces them into it or makes them feel as if they must. 'To each their own' Mrs. Tae Eun-Kyung thought to herself with a heavy sigh and a small shake of her head.

She just did not want her precious son to feel pressured to fit the unhealthy beauty standards that the galaxy seems to have these days. He is perfect just the way he is, and she would much rather he be happy. She is happy and excited for him on successfully being selected for The Chef and The Celebrity, she is just concerned about Bong Tae-Hwan.

'No, I should not stress and worry, he is more than capable and will win for sure that I have no doubt of.' She just cannot shake this feeling of unease for some reason. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard him speak.

"Eomeoni, we have talked about this. The camera may not lie but when it is broadcasted to a screen it is and it makes actors and actresses appear to be at least bigger and heavier than they actually are.

I do not want to give the viewers and media any ammo to use against me. I may just be a chef competing but with how big and amazing the award for winning is I need all the support I can get. Since the public gets to vote during the live streams, I have to appeal to them." Phoenix smiled as he looked into his mother's eyes as he continued.

 "Plus, I have to compete with all the gorgeous and godly men and women, little ole me really cannot compete so I have to work hard to be at my very best so that I will hopefully be more rememberable, if I am lucy I will be able to win the judges and the public over and win the personal cooking show they have as one of the ultimate rewards for winning. But in order to do that the viewers have to love me since it is largely based off of their votes. Well, that is for the personal cooking show."

Phoenix said with a sheepish smile and his eyes shining with love, indulgence, a bit of helplessness and pride all at the same time. He could not help but think about how amazing it would be to have his own cooking show, after all he did fall in love with it when Draco taught him everything he knew, which was a lot considering his background, but that was something he had to think about later. Right now, he needed to focus on his family that stood before him.

It felt odd having a loving and caring family, even if they were not truly his, they are his family now. 'I promise I will protect them with everything in him even if it means taking out that black lotus green tea bitch Lee Eun-ae. No, I refused to let that disgusting thing sour his mood', and with that thought he cleared his mind and put his full attention into this moment with his family, attention deficit disorder be damned.

He really did love this feeling of being loved by a family. For some reason, he is not sure of yet, he really had already fallen in love this sweet. He has racked his brain trying to figure out why and how he could fall in love with his new family when it has never happened before, but no matter how much he tried he could not come up with a plausible reason. Though not knowing was bothering him and he could feel the faint reason in the dark recesses of his brain he decided to let it be for now. Maybe it will come to him if he continues to think about it once he is in private and has the time to allow his mind to wonder about it.

As he had that thought the conversation around him started up about what university Beyol Joon has as his top pick and what his backups are. Beyol Joon tried to distract everyone by asking how the restaurant and tea house are doing? Though it is set up like a traditional tea house it is in fact more of a café but specializing in teas instead of coffee, they also teach lessons on tea ceremonies. Beyol Eun-Ha who was placing the last dish on the table became animated and started telling them about this new dish that she had made and pointed out.

Beyol Eun-Ha studied abroad all throughout middle school, high school and university. She earned a scholarship to the prestigious International Culinary Institute in Country A. She then went on to work her way up in a couple of restaurants before she landed her job at Steller, a world class three-star Michelin restaurant that specializes in fusion and cutting gastronomy on The Sparkling Turquoise Islands. It was a huge deal and honor to earn a job working on The Turquoise Islands as they were a small group of proto planets that was mainly inhabited by nobles and chaebols. Which is where she fell in love with fusion cuisine and how it brings cultures together.

 [A/N: it comes from different planets in the Golden Dragon Star Nexus (G.D.S.N.) Empire]

She makes the daily specials here in the restaurant, and she makes the snacks and desserts for the tea shop, and they were all so unique and delicious. Beyol Eun-Ha left a very well paying a prestigious job as a sous chef at a three-star Michelin restaurant on, to help her family here at home. She moved back home to help run the family restaurant as her parents have gotten older and struggle to run in on their own, these days.

Beyol Eun-Ha used to send money back home to help her family out when she was working back on The Turquoise Islands. Being in the working poor bracket is hard but can also be very fulfilling. Because of her fusion dishes the new tea house has quickly become a success and it has allowed them to pay down the bank loan they took out to expand the restaurant, adding the tea house to it and adding some additional living space upstairs. Beyol Eun-Ha loves her family and would do anything for them, she truly feels fulfilled and happy about her decision to move back home.

Mr. Beyol Shin lightly cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention, he presided over the meal, and everyone gave thanks then dug into the food. Phoenix dug into Beyol Eun-Ha's latest dish first and he could not help but get lost in the flavors and textured. This is truly a great dish.

Phoenix was so amazed that he forgot he still had food in his mouth when he began to praise the dish. "Oh, my galaxies! Nuna this is so good! Oh, umm, he closed mouth, coughed and quickly swallowed the remaining food in his mouth. "I am sorry about that; ahh, I was so excited that I rudely spoke with food in my mouth! Please everyone accept my sincere apology." Phoenix said while bowing his head. All of the Beyols spoke up in a cacophony of "it is okay", "awe so cute" and "do not worry about it, it happens", and Phoenix could not help but smile so wide his eyes were no longer open, well they were but it was just slits.

Once his family calmed back down Phoenix turned back to his nuna and tried again to compliment her food but this time with no food in his mouth. "Like I was saying, your latest dish is so good, the taste is complex but balanced and not too heavy while remaining satisfying and the texture is perfect. Have you come up with a name for it yet?"

Beyol Eun-Ha was so touched that her eyes became glassy as she looked at this, beautiful inside and out, little brother of her's before smiling brightly, shaking her head no as she responded, " No not yet do you have any ideas for it?"

**********

Author's question for my readers, does anyone have any names for this dish? It is a sweet and spicy, pork meets venison like meat, with fungus, leafy veggies along with some root type veggies and a jellylike substance (like a fruit compote but it's actually an alien animal) on a bed of wild rice long rice and served with fried bread. It is meant to have a good balance between flavor, aroma, texture, taste and nutrition.